Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria, The Handmaid’s Tale) will executive produce and star in The Players Table, an all-new TV series based on They Wish They Were Us, the debut novel of author Jessica Goodman. As revealed by Deadline, The Players Table will be the inaugural project of Sweeney’s production company Fifty-Fifty Films.
They Wish They Were Us, due to be released on August 4th, focuses on high schooler Jill Newman as she tries to investigate the mystery surrounding her best friend’s death. She soon realizes that the school is hiding a secret society, and its members (known as “players”) are responsible for the murder. Sweeney will play Newman in The Players Table, and told Deadline that “when I read They Wish They Were Us I was instantly drawn to the specificity of the world and the struggles of the characters — and I knew it was the first project I wanted to produce.”
Sweeney has sought to establish Fifty-Fifty Films for a while. As this is her company’s first production, Fifty-Fifty Films will work together with another production company called Crazyrose, owned by Jean-Marc Vallée and Nathan Ross. Vallée and Ross are known for producing a variety of films and television shows, most notably Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects, the latter of which Sweeney also starred in. The trio will reunite and return to HBO for The Players Table. Sweeney spoke about the partnership with Deadline, saying “I’m really honored that Jean-Marc Vallée and Nathan Ross wanted to partner on this series. I’m getting to learn from the best.”
Sweeney chose newcomer Annabelle Attanasio, director of 2019’s Mickey and the Bear, to direct and write the series. Attanasio will also executive produce alongside Sweeney, Vallée, and Ross. The duo expressed their excitement about this collaboration with Deadline: “We are equally thrilled to have Annabelle as our creative leader on this journey. Her visual style, her sense of storytelling along with the quality of performances that she gets out of actors and actresses is just stunning.”
While the series has entered production, it is unknown when The Players Table will premiere.